-tLB  ■ 

\\Q>^ 


/? 


This  honk  is  Hue  on  fhe  last  Hate  stamneH  heioixr-  rtr 


M 


iig  #g0t^m  0f  lEbtrratton 


BY 


iiarta  MontiBsatx,  MB. 


A  Lecture  by  Doctor  Montessori  delivered 
before  the  National  Education  Assqziaipn 
in  August,  19 IS,  at;! J'  refyr'ihted  fr'y^m  the 
Journal  of  the  Association,   t9t5.  ... 


Reprinted  by 

THE  HOUSE  OF  CHILDHOOD,  INC. 

225  FIFTH  AVENUE,  NEW  YORK  CITY 

Mak^''s  and  Sole  Licencees  of  the  Montessori  Childhood  Educational  Apparatus 


^gBtPtn   flf  lEfturalinn 


BY 

Maria  Maateeaati, 


A* 


A  Lecture  by  Doctor  Montessori  delivered 
before  the  National  Education  Association 
in  August,  1915,  and  reprinted  from  the 
Journal  of  the  Association,   1915. 


MY  SYSTEM  OF  EDUCATION 

Maria  Montessori,  M.D.,  Rome,  Italy 

My  system  is  to  be  considered  a  system 
leading  up,  in  a  general  way,  to  education. 
It  can  be  followed  not  only  in  the  education 
of  little  children  from  three  to  six  years  of 
age,  but  can  be  extended  to  children  up  to 
ten  years  of  age.  It  is  not  a  simple  theory, 
but  has  been  experimented  with  and  put  into 
practice.  Its  results  constitute  a  scientific 
proof  of  its  value. 

Altho  the  first  part  of  my  experiment  deals 
only  with  children  between  the  ages  of  three 
and  six  years,  nevertheless  it  must  be  con- 
sidered as  a  "directive  system''  for  the  edu- 
cation of  all  children  having  attained  the 
school  age.  In  fact,  my  last  experiments,  not 
yet  known  to  the  public,  have  been  made  on 
children  up  to  ten  years  of  age,  and  the  same 
directive  system  has  proven  satisfactory.  The 
l^esuTts  were  of  still  higher  importance  than  in 
the  first  case  with  smaller  children  because 
richer  in  practical  evidence  both  in  the  forma- 
tion of  character  and  in  the  attainment  of 
knowledge. 

The  fact  on  which  it  was  possible  to  estab- 


lish  my  system  is  the  psychologic  fact  of  the 
"attention"  of  the  child,  intensively  chained  to 
any  exterior  object  or  fact,  which  proves  in 
the  child  a  spontaneous,  altho  complex  ac- 
tivity of  its  entire  little  personality. 

It  will  be  of  some  interest  to  relate  here  the 
episode  that  made  me  decide  to  plan  out  a 
special  method  for  the  education  of  children. 

I  was  making  the  first  experiments  in  San 
Lorenzo  (Roma),  trying  to  apply  my  princi- 
ples and  part  of  the  material  that  I  had  previ- 
ously used  in  the  education  of  backward  chil- 
dren. 

CA  little  girl,  about  three  years  of  age,  was 
deeply  absorbed  in  the  work  of  placing 
wooden  blocks  and  cylinders  in  a  frame  for 
that  purpose.  The  expression  of  her  face  was 
that  of  such  intense  attention,  that  it  was 
almost  a  revelation  to  me.  Never  before  had 
I  seen  a  child  look  with  such  "fixedness"  upon 
an  object,  and  my  conviction  about  the  insta- 
bility of  attention  which  goes  incessantly  from 
one  thing  to  another,  a  fact  which  is  so  char- 
acteristic in  little  children,  made  the  phenome- 
non the  more  remarkable  to  me. 

I  watched  the  child  without  interrupting 
her,  and  counted  how  many  times  she  would 
do  her  work  over  and  over.  It  seemed  that 
she  was  never  going  to  stop.     As  I  saw  that 

334866 


it  would  take  a  very  long  time,  I  took  the 
little  armchair  on  which  she  was  sitting  and 
placed  child  and  chair  on  the  big  table. 
Hastily  she  put  the  frame  across  the  chair, 
gathered  blocks  and  cylinders  in  her  lap,  and 
continued  her  work  undisturbed.  I  invited 
the  other  children  to  sing,  but  the  little  girl 
went  on  with  her  work  and  continued  even 
after  the  singing  had  ceased.  I  counted  forty- 
four  different  exercises  which  she  made,  and 
when  she  finally  stopped,  and  did  so  abso- 
lutely independently  from  an  exterior  cause 
that  could  disturb  her,  she  looked  around  with 
an  expression  of  great  satisfaction,  as  if  she 
were  awakening  from  a  deep  and  restful  sleepy 
The  impression  I  received  from  the  obser- 
vation was  that  of  a  discovery.  The  same 
phenomenon  became  very  common  among 
those  children,  and  it  was  noticed  in  every 
school  in  every  country  where  my  system  was 
introduced ;  therefore  it  can  be  considered  as 
a  constant  reaction  which  takes  place  in  con- 
nection with  certain  exterior  conditions  that 
can  be  well  established.  Each  time  a  similar 
''polarization"  of  the  attention  occurred,  the\ 
child  began  to  transmute  itself  completely;  it  ^ 
became  calmer,  more  expressive,  more  intelli- 
gent, and  evidenced  extraordinary  interior 
qualities,  which  recalled  the  phenomena  of  the 


highest  mentality.  When  the  phenomenon  of 
polarization  of  the  attention  had  occurred,  all 
that  was  confused  and  drifting  in  the  con- 
science of  the  child  seemed  to  assume  a  form, 
the  marvelous  characters  of  which  were  re- 
produced in  each  individual. 

This  reminded  one  of  the  life  of  man  that 
may  be  scattered  indiscriminately  in  a  chaotic 
condition,  until  a  special  object  attracts  it  and 
gives  it  a  fixed  form,  and  then  only  is  man 
revealed  unto  himself  and  begins  to  live.  This 
spiritual  phenomenon,  which  may  coinvolve 
the  whole  conscience  of  the  adult,  is  therefore 
but  one  of  the  ever-present  aspects  of  the 
''formation  of  the  inner  life."  It  is  met  with 
as  a  normal  beginning  of  the  inner  life  of 
children,  and  it  follows  the  development  so 
as  to  come  within  the  reach  of  research  as 
an  experimental  fact. 

It  was  thus  that  the  soul  of  the  child  gave 
its  revelations,  and,  guided  by  these  revela- 
tions, there  arose  a  method  where  spiritual 
liberty  became  demonstrated. 

The  news  of  this  fact  rapidly  spread  thruout 
the  world,  and  it  was  received  at  first  as  a 
miracle.  Then  little  by  little,  as  the  experi- 
ments were  repeated  among  the  most  diverse 


races,  the  simplicity  and  evidence  of  the  prin- 
ciples of  this  spiritual  treatment  were  recog- 

/  nized. 

WP^~^h.en  you  have  solved  the  problem  of  con- 
y'fUrolling  the  attention  of  the  child,  you  have 

l^^olved  the  entire  problem  of  its  education. 
The  importance  of  a  scheme  to  concentrate 
the  attention  is  self-evident.  Professor  Wil- 
liam James,  the  renowned  authority  on  psy- 
chology in  America,  points  out  to  us  how 
there  exists  in  children  that  exterior  variabil- 
ity of  attention  that  makes  it  so  difficult  to 
give  them  the  first  lessons.  The  reflective  and 
passive  character  of  the  attention,  by  which 
the  child  seems  to  belong  less  to  itself  than 
to  any  object  that  may  attract  its  attention, 
is  the  first  thing  that  the  teacher  must  con- 
quer. The  ability  incessantly  to  recall  a  wan- 
dering and  scattered  attention,  always  ready 
to  vanish,  is  the  real  root  of  judgment,  char- 
acter, and  will;  that  system  of  education  that 
succeeds  in  bringing  this  faculty  to  the  high- 
est  degree  should  be  the  ideal  and  standard 

,   system. 

To  be  able  to  choose  objects  that  will  in-  » 
terest  and  hold  the  attention  of  the  child  is 
to  know  the  means  of  aiding  it  in  its  mental 
development.   All  things  which  naturally  arise 
and    hold    the    attention    with    considerable 


steadiness  are  those  which  represent  a  ''neces- 
^sity''  for  the  child.  .  Toward  these  things  its 
attention  is  directed  in  a  natural,  almost  in- 
stinctive way.  All  other  things  that  attract 
its  attention  do  so  only  lightly,  transitorily, 
and  for  a  very  short  period  of  time.  Thus  the 
newborn  child  has  a  series  of  unco-ordinate 
movements,  but  the  complex  movement  of 
sucking,  which  is  in  direct  proportion  to  its 
need  of  food,  is  performed  with  regularity, 
co-ordination,     and     steadiness.       We     must 

i    recognize  that  something  like  this  is  needed 

i  for  its  psychic  development. 
\  Consider  the  little  girl  only  three  years  of 
age  who  perform  the  same  exercise  fifty 
times.  A  crowd  is  roaming  about  her,  a  piano 
is  playing,  a  chorus  is  sung,  and  nothing  can 
distract  her  from  her  deep  concentration.  In 
a  similar  way,  the  baby  holds  on  to  the  breast 
of  the  mother  without  being  interrupted  by 
any  exterior  agent  and  lets  go  only  after  its 
need  is  satisfied. 

How  shall  we  choose  the  means  of  develop- 
ment by  experiments?  Since  a  constant  and 
peculiar  psychic  reaction  is  an  established 
fact,  it  is  possible  to  determine  some  stimu- 
lating (reactive)  agents  or  objects  that  can 
aid  the  spontaneous  development.  The  char- 
acter of  this  reaction  itself  must  be  the  guide 


to  the  choice  of  these  objects  which  are  to 
constitute  the  implements  or  tools  for  this 
scientific  work. 

Each  one  of  these  instruments  must  be 
built  with  every  detail  to  answer  the  pur- 
pose. As  the  lenses  of  the  optician  are  made 
in  accordance  with  the  laws  of  refraction,  the 
pedagogical  instrument  must  be  chosen  to 
correspond  exactly  to  the  psychic  manifesta- 
tions of  the  child. 

Such  an  instrument  could  be  compared  to 
a  systematized  mental  test.  It  is  not,  how- 
ever, established  as  an  external  criterion  of 
measurement  with  the  purpose  of  estimating 
the  instantaneous  psychic  reaction  which  it 
produces,  but  on  the  contrary  it  is  a  stimulus 
which  must  be  determined  by  the  psychic  re- 
actions which  it  is  capable  of  producing  and 
maintaining  in  a  permanent  manner.  It  is 
the  psychic  reaction  which  determines  and 
establishes  the  systematic  mental  test  and  the 
psychic  reaction  which  serves  as  the  sole 
means  of  comparison  in  determining  the  tests. 
It  is  a  polarization  of  the  attention  and  the 
repetition  of  the  acts  to  which  it  corresponds. 
When  a  stimulus  corresponds  in  this  way  to 
the  reflex  personality,  it  serves,  not  to  meas- 
ure, but  to  maintain  an  active  reaction.  There- 
fore it  is  a  stimulus  of  inner  formation.     In 


fact,    it    is    upon    such    activity,    aroused    and. 
maintained,  that  the  associative  organism  be- 
gins its»  inner  elaborations  in  relation  to  the 
stimuli. 

It  is  not  as  a  scale  for  weighing  personality 
that  this  science  comes  into  the  old  sphere 
of  pedagogy  as  it  w^as  in  the  case  of  the  ex- 
perimental psychology  introduced  in  the 
school  up  to  the  present  time.  It  is  a  science 
intended  for  the  purpose  of  "transforming" 
personality,  thus  taking  the  place  of  a  true 
and  real  pedagogy.  While  old  pedagogy  in 
all  its  different  interpretations  had  for  its 
point  of  view  and  starting-base  the  conception 
of  a  "receptive  personality,''  which  was  sup- 
posed to  receive  tuition  and  allow  itself  to  be 
passively  transformed,  this  scientific  direction 
presupposes  an  active  personality,  reflective 
and  associative,  whose  activity  manifests  itself 
thru  a  series  of  reactions  derived  from  syste- 
matic stimuli  chosen  by  experiments.  This 
new  "pedagogy"  belongs  therefore  to  the 
series  of  modern  sciences  not  of  old  specula- 
tions. But  the  method  that  embodies  it,  that 
is  to  say  the  attempt,  observation,  retrying, 
taking  notice  of  new  phenomena,  the  reproduc- 
tion of  said  phenomena  and  utilizing  them, 
places  this  new  pedagogy  among  the  experi- 
mental sciences. 


Nothing  is  more  interesting  than  these  ex- 
periments. By  them  we  can  estabHsh,  with 
the  greatest  precision,  all  necessary  exterior 
stimuli,  definite  in  their  qualities  and  quantity. 
Small  frames,  for  instance,  of  different  forms, 
arouse  only  a  temporary  and  transient  at- 
tention in  a  child  three  years  of  age;  but, 
/| :  gradually  enlarging  the  size  of  the  frames, 
you  will  reach  that  limit  at  which  the  atten- 
tion is  steadily  held,  the  activity  stimulated 
by  them  will  be  permanent,  and  the  exercise 
set  up  in  it  becomes  a  factor  of  development. 
The  experiment  is  repeated  on  several  chil- 
dren and  we  come  to  the  point  where  we  can 
establish  the  right  size  of  a  series  of  objects; 
in  the  same  way  you  can  proceed  to  determine 
the  color  and  all  other  qualities  of  your  ma- 
te^rial.  In  order  that  a  quality  be  "felt"  so 
intensely  as  to  hold  the  attention,  a  sufficient 
size  and  intensity  are  required  in  the  stimulus. 
These  can  be  determined  by  the  degree  of 
psychic  reaction  in  the  child  in  the  same  way 
that  /you  establish  which  is  the  smallest  size 
of  colored  surface  which  can  attract  the  at- 
tention of  the  child  upon  the  colored  tablets, 
and  so  forth.  The  quality,  then,  is  determined 
by  the  psychic  experiment  and  the  activity 
that  it  provokes  in  the  child,  who  remains  ab- 
sorbed for  a  considerable  length  of  time  work- 


ing  on  the  same  subject.  It  is  while  in  this 
state  that  the  phenomenon  of  interior  develop- 
ment and  auto-formation  takes  place. 

Of  the  qualities  of  the  objects  one  must  be 
picked  out  which  stimulates  principally  the 
highest  activities  of  the  intelligence ;  this  is 
the  quality  that  enables  the  child  to  verify 
mistakes.  In  order  to  create  a  process  of  auto- 
education,  it  is  not  sufficient  that  the  stimulus 
arouses  an  activity,  it  must  at  the  same  time 
direct  it;  the  child  must  not  only  be  occu- 
pied for  a  long  time  on  an  exercise,  but  it 
must  continue  on  it  without  making  mistakes. 

All  the  physical  or  intrinsic  qualities  of  the 
objects  must  be  determined  aside  from  the 
immediate  reaction  of  attention  provoked  in 
the  child,  also  this  fundamental  characteristic 
of  permitting  the  control  of  error,  that  is,  to 
summon  the  active  collaboration  of  high  ac- 
tivities, such  as  comparison  and  judgment. 
For  example,  one  of  the  first  objects  which 
attracts  the  attention  of  the  three-year-old 
child,  the  solid  insets  (a  series  of  little  cyl- 
inders of  various  dimensions  which  are  taken 
out  and  replaced),  contains  the  most  mechani- 
cal control,  because  in  making  one  mistake  in 
the  replacing  of  the  cylinders,  one  of  them  is 
left  without  a  place.  Hence  a  mistake  is  an 
obstacle   which    can   be    surmounted   only   by 


correction,  otherwise  the  exercise  can  proceed 
no  farther.  Furthermore,  the  correction  is 
so  easy  that  the  child  accompHshes  it  by  him- 
self. The  little  problem  which  has  unexpect- 
edly sprung  up  before  the  child  like  a  jack-in- 
the-box  has  interested  him. 

It  may  be  noted,  however,  that  the  problem 
which  has  arisen  is  not  of  itself  a  stimulus  to 
the  interest — does  not  urge  the  child  on  to 
the  repetition  of  the  act,  or  to  progress.  That 
which  interests  the  child  is  not  only  the  sense 
'  of  handling  the  objects,  but  the  conscious  ac- 
quisition of  a  new  power  of  discrimination, 
that  of  recognizing  the  difference  of  dimen- 
sions among  the  cylinders,  the  difference 
which  at  first  he  did  not  perceive.  The  prob- 
lem arises  only  in  relation  to  the  mistake — 
it  does  not  accompany  the  normal  process  of 
development.  An  interest  simply  stimulated 
by  curiosity  in  the  problem  would  not  be  that 
formative  interest  which  draws  its  sources 
from  the  needs  of  life  itself  and  which,  there- 
fore, directs  the  construction  of  the  inner  per- 
sonality. If  it  were  only  the  problem  which 
led  the  soul  along,  it  might  lose  its  own  spon- 
taneous order  as  every  other  external  cause 
which  strives  to  lead  life  astray  on  false  paths. 
On  the  other  handy  the  experimental  cri- 
terion for  determining  the  number  of  objects 


is  quite  different.  When  the  instruments  have 
been  constructed  with  great  precision,  they 
provoke  an  auto-exercise  so  orderly  and  re- 
sponding to  the  facts  of  inner  development  in 
such  a  way  that  at  a  certain  point  a  new 
psychic  picture  is  revealed,  a  sort  of  upper 
plane  in  the  complete  development. 

Then  the  child  spontaneously  abandons  the 
objects,  but  not  with  signs  of  fatigue,  altho 
he  is  carried  along  by  new  energy  and  his 
mind  is  capable  of  abstraction.  At  this  stage 
of  development  the  child  turns  his  attention 
to  the  external  world  and  observes  it  in  an 
orderly  manner,  according  to  the  order  which 
has  been  formed  in  his  mind  along  with  the 
preceding  development,  and  he  unconsciously 
begins  to  make  a  series  of  measured  and  logi- 
cal comparisons  which  represents  a  real  spon- 
taneous acquisition  of  knowledge.  This  is  the 
stage  henceforth  known  as  the  Period  of  Dis- 
covery, discovering  which  evokes  in  the  child 
enthusiasm  and  joy. 

This  higher  stage  of  development  is  most 
fruitful  because  of  its  later  growth.  It  is 
necessary  that  the  child's  attention  should  not 
be  detained  on  these  objects  when  the  deli- 
cate phenomenon  of  abstraction  begins.  For 
example :  The  teacher  who  should  at  such  a 
moment   call   the   child   to   renew   his   activity 


with  the  object  would  in  so  doing  retard  his 
spontaneous  development,  would  put  an  ob- 
stacle in  his  path.  When  that  enthusiasm 
which  leads  the  child  to  uplift  himself  and  to 
experience  so  many  intellectual',  emotions  is 
spent,  then  one  road  to  progress  is  closed. 
The  same  mistake  may  be  made  thru  an  over- 
abundance of  material  since  it  may  distract 
the  attention,  may  cause  the  use  of  the  ma- 
terial to  become  mechanical,  and  may  cause 
the  child  to  pass  by  his  psychological  moment 
without  seizing  it  or  even  being  aware  of  it. 
These  extra  objects  (materials)  are  useless 
and  amid  them  the  soul  may  lose  itself.  What 
must  be  accurately  determined  is  how  much 
material  is  necessary  and  sufficient  to  respond 
to  the  needs  of  the  inner  life  in  its  develop- 
ment. The  observation  of  the  child's  expres- 
sion and  of  the  manifestations  of  his  activities 
as  a  whole  are  the  guiding  factors  in  determin- 
ing the  quantity. ., 

Perhaps  I  insist  too  much  on  this  point  in 
order  to  reply  to  the  many  important  objec- 
tions and  suggestions  which  have  been  made 
to  me,  because  there  are  those  who  think  that 
the  form  alone  of  the  problem  is  able  to  arouse 
the  interest. 

In  the  second  series  of  objects  used  to  edu- 
cate the  eye  to  dimensions,  the  control  of  the 


I 


error  is  not  mechanical  but  psychological. 
The  child  himself,  since  his  eye  is  already^ 
taught  to  recognize  differences  of  dimension, 
will  see  the  error  if  only  the  objects  are  of 
fixed  dimensions  and  highly  colored.  For  this 
reason  the  succeeding  objects  contain  a  con- 
trol of  error  in  their  very  size  and  vivid  color- 
ings. A  control  of  error  of  quite  a  different 
kind  and  of  a  much  higher  order  is  found  in 
the  material  used  for  the  multiplication  table 
where  the  control  consists  in  comparing  the 
work  itself  with  the  answer,  a  comparison 
which  necessitates  a  marked  effort  of  the 
child's  intellect  and  will  and  which  henceforth 
places  him  amid  true  conditions  of  a  conscious 
auto-education.     The  seeming    distraction    is  ^ 

revealed  in  its  real  essence  by  the  happy  ex-  / 

pression   of  the   children's   serious   faces   ani-  .' 

mated  by  the  keenest  joy.  The  child,  to  all 
appearances,  does  nothing,  but  only  for  a  min- 
ute ;  shortly  he  will  speak  and  will  tell  us  what  -^ 
is  taking  place  within  him  and  then  an  out- 
burst of  activity  will  carry  him  on  a  round  of 
continuous  explorations  and  discoveries.  He 
is  saved. 

On  the  other  hand,  here  are  other  children 
who  experienced  the  same  primitive  phe- 
nomena, but  they  were  surrounded  with  too 
many   objects.     At  the   moment  of   maturity 


1^ 


they  felt  themselves  seized,  forced,  actually 
''bound  with  cords"  to  earth.  A  diminution 
of  the  intensity  of  the  attention  given  to  new 
objects,  instability,  and  hence  weariness  are 
made  manifest  by  the  cessation  of  inner  ac- 
'  tivity.  The  child  gives  way  to  lower  tenden- 
cies, foolish  laughter,  and  disorderly  acts.  He 
asks  for  more  objects  and  still  more  objects, 
because  he  has  remained  imprisoned  in  the 
"vicious  whirl  of  vanities"  and  he  no  longer 
feels  the  need  of  gaining  relief  from  his  ennui. 
Such  is  also  the  fate  of  an  adult  who,  in 
life's  chaos  has  committed  a  like  error — he 
becomes  undisciplined,  weak,  and  "is  in  dan- 
ger of  losing  himself."  If  someone  does  not 
help  him  and,  tearing  away  all  unnecessary 
objects,  point  out  to  him  "his  heaven,"  it  will 
be  difficult  for  him  to  have  the  energy  to  at- 
tain it  by  himself. 

These  two  extreme  types  give  an  idea  of 
the  criteria  by  which  one  determines  in  an 
experiment  the  "quantity"  of  the  objects  used 
for  development.  The  "too  much"  weakens 
and  retards  progress.  This  has  been  proven 
again  and  again  by  all  my  collaborators.  If, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  material  is  insufficient 
and  the  natural  auto-exercises  are  unable  to 
lead  up  to  that  state  of  maturity  which  raises 
one,  there  is  no  outburst  of  that  spontaneous 


phenomenon  of  abstraction  which  is  the 
second  step  in  that  auto-education  which  goes 
forward  in  infinite  progression. 

This  same  fundamental  phenomenon  of  in- 
tense and  prolonged  attention  leading  to  a 
repetition'  of  acts  guides  one  in  finding  the 
stimuli  which  are  suitable  to  the  child's  age. 
A  stimulus  which  causes  a  child  of  three  to 
repeat  an  act  forty  times  in  succession  may 
cause  another  child  of  six  to  repeat  the  same 
act  only  ten  times;  the  object  which  quickens 
the  interest  of  the  three-year-old  cannot 
quicken  the  interest  of  the  six-year-old  child. 
However,  the  child  of  six  is  capable  of  far 
greater  attention  than  the  three-year-old, 
when  the  stimulus  is  in  direct  relation  to 
his  activity.  If  the  child  of  three  has  a  maxi- 
mum power  of  repetition,  say  of  forty  times 
in  succession,  the  six-year-old  is  able  to  re- 
peat an  act  in  which  he  is  interested  two  hun- 
dred times.  If  in  the  case  of  a  three-year-old 
child  the  maximum  period  of  continuous  work 
on  the  same  object  is  half  an  hour,  for  the  six- 
year-old  it  may  be  more  than  two  hours. 

Thus  tests  give  positive  psychic  character- 
istics which  can  almost  be  measured  according 
to  age.  Analogously,  since  there  are  for  the 
various  ages  materials  for  progressive  de- 
velopment upon  which  the  various  personali- 


ties  can  react  differently,  it  is  possible  to  de- 
termine with  scientific  precision  the  level  of 
the  average  psychical  development  according 
to  age,  a  precision  which  I  consider  the  fa- 
mous Binet  and  Simon  tests  are  far  from  at- 
taining. A  relationship  is  established  between 
the  inner  needs  and  the  stimuli. 

This  is  a  suggestion,  however  incomplete 
and  insufficient,  of  the  ''possibility''  of  experi- 
mentally determining  the  means  for  psychic 
development.  They  can  really  be  established 
and  with  such  precision  as  to  bring  into  ex- 
istence a  real  relationship  between  the  inner 
needs  and  the  stimuli,  just  as  there  exists  a 
relationship  of  form  between  the  insect  and 
the  flower.  That  is  to  say,  there  remains  iK. 
the  organization  of  the  external  means  for  ] 
inner  development  "a  material  imprint,''  and  ' 
this  is  that  of  which  the  soul  has  need  in  its 
path,  in  its  course,  in  its  flights.  The  material 
part  does  not  contain  the  imprint  of  the  whole 
soul,  as  the  imprint  of  the  foot  does  not  give 
the  imprint  of  the  whole  body,  as  the  aviation 
field  is  not  the  place  for  the  extensive  course 
of  an  aeroplane,  but  is  only  a  piece  of  terra 
firma  necessary  for  the  flight,  and  is  also  the 
resting-place,  the  refuge,  the  shed  to  which 
the  aeroplane  must  always  return.  Thus,  in 
the  psychic  formation,  there  is  a  material  part 


necessary  in  order  that  the  spirit  may  lift 
itself,  and  there  the  spirit  must  seek  support, 
rest,  and  refuge.  Without  this,  it  cannot  grow 
and  rise  "freely." 

In  order  that  this  material  may  be  a  real 
support,  it  must  reproduce  and  contain  within 
itself  those  forms  which  correspond  to  the 
needs  of  material  help.  Thus,  for  example, 
in  the  first  part  of  the  psychic  life,  the  ma- 
terial corresponds  to  the  primitive  exercising 
of  the  senses  and  is  determined  in  quality  and 
quantity  by  the  sensorial  needs  supplied  by 
nature,  corresponding  to  the  exercise  of  the 
activity  sufficient  in  order  to  mature  a 
superior  psychic  state  of  observation  and 
abstraction.  Vice  versa,  nothing  in  the 
material  corresponds  to  the  successive  course 
thru  the  world  which  the  infantile  spirit  com- 
pletes with  such  rapture,  making  great  acqui- 
sitions of  knowledge.  Then  we  see  the  spirit 
crying  out  for  exercises  of  a  higher  order  and 
behold  the  same  primitive  phenomenon  of 
the  attention,  which  henceforth  is  exercised 
on  the  alphabet  and  on  the  material  for  arith- 
metic, repeating  in  a  more  complex  form  the 
methodical  exercises  of  the  intellect,  by  cor- 
relating the  auditory  impressions  with  the 
visual  and  motor  impressions  in  the  written 
and  spoken  word,  and  in  the  positive  study  of 


>• 


quantity,  proportions,  and  number.  Then  the 
same  accompanying  phenomena  are  mani- 
fested which  are  the  concomitants  of  patience, 
of  constancy,  and,  at  the  same  time,  of  vivac- 
ity and  joy,  and  characteristic  of  the  spirit 
when  the  inner  energy  has  found  its  outlet. 
The  field  in  which  it  can  exercise  itself  com- 
fortably and  quietly  enlarges  and  the  spirit 
which  becomes  organized  in  such  a  way  under 
the  guidance  of  an  order  which  responds  to 
its  natural  order,  becomes  strong,  grows 
flourishingly,  and  manifests  itself  in  equilib- 
rium, serenity,  and  calm,  which  then  gives 
that  wonderful  discipline  characteristic  of  the 
conduct  of  our  children. 

The  practical  consequences  of  such  a  sys- 
tem of  education  are :  the  easy  and  spontan- 
eous solution  of  pedagogical  problems  con- 
sidered impossible  to  solve;  the  realization 
of  ideals  thought  to  be  Utopian. 

^'  From  such  a  system  there  comes  forth  a 
school  where  the  children  work  for  them- 
selves— that  is,  they  are  free.  In  this  freedom 
they  work  much  more  than  heretofore  has 
been  customary  in  school,  not  alone  without 
fatigue,  but  with  renewed  nervous  forces,  and 
they  attain  culture  more  rapidly  and  more 
efficaciously — that   is,   they   surpass   the   ordi- 


nary  level.  In  fact,  children  can  learn  to  read 
and  write  at  four  and  one-half  years  of  age 
generally,  and  in  the  elementary  schools  they 
save  from  one  to  two  years.  This  educational 
problem,  which  today  science  propounds,  is 
solved,  tho  it  was  considered  among  the  in- 
soluble questions  such  as  the  fourth  dimen- 
sion, perpetual  motion,  and  the  squaring  of  a  y 
circle.  The  problem  is  to  lessen  effort  and  v^ 
at  the  same  time  increase  output.  In  fact,  the 
overworking  of  pupils  has  forced  hygiene  to 
insist  on  less  work,  whereas  social  progress 
requires  that  the  schools  produce  men  even 
more  cultured. 

Furthermore,  children  brought  up  under 
our  method  acquire  a  salient  personality,  a 
peculiar  formation  of  character,  and  they  are 
capable  of  perfect  discipline,  a  thing  which 
solves  the  problem  of  liberty.  For  liberty,  as 
it  has  been  tried  up  to  now,  brought  about 
either  disorder  and  lack  of  discipline  or  a  less- 
ening of  scholarship.  In  truth  the  solution  of 
the  question  of  freedom  depends  entirely  on 
finding  the  means  which  will  serve  as  an  aid 
to  spontaneous  psychic  development,  to  char-  -- 
acter  and  to  intellectual  culture.  In  this  man- 
ner auto-education  is  also  attained,  a  thing 
which  is  impossible  unless  we  determine  with 


precision  the  means  necessary  for  the  child  to 
educate  himself — that  is,  to  develop  his  own 
activities. 

Finally,  in  such  a  way  is  a  true  positive 
science  of  education  initiated,  which  up  to  the 
present  has  not  been  given  by  pedagogical 
anthropology  nor  by  German  experimental 
psychology  with  its  applications  to  the  school 
in  the  branch  called  ^'scientific  pedagogy." 
Such  sciences  have  studied  the  personality  of 
the  pupil  but  have  not  changed  it,  they  have 
pointed  out  and  analyzed  the  errors  of  the 
school,  but  they  have  not  reconstructed.  Be- 
sides, if  from  these  sciences  there  had  really 
arisen  a  scientific  pedagogy  capable  of  trans- 
forming man,  as  the  other  positive  sciences 
have  transformed  the  environment,  it  would 
not  have  left  educators  and  the  public  so  in- 
different; it  would  have  aroused  a  popular  in- 
terest since  children  and  the  schools  are  of 
common  interest  to  all  mankind. 

The  scientific  pedagogy,  as  understood  thus 
far,  does  not  indeed  present  anything  but  the 
ideal  for  establishing  pedagogy  on  the  lines 
of  positive  and  experimental  science  in  accord- 
ance with  the  progress  of  the  time  and  not 
the  realization  of  such  an  ideal.  In  fact,  the 
scientific  laboratory  of  experimental  pedagogy 
cannot  be  other  than  the  school  itself,  where 


the  children  live  and  are  transformed.  I  be- 
lieve that  my  system  of  education  is  founding 
this  laboratory  where  the  first  germs  of  a 
science  of  man  are  visible  because  of  the  pre- 
cision of  systematic  means,  and  also  because 
of  the  effect  upon  human  development. 


....^, 


GENERAI    T  TBRARY 

ITY  r 


ivenewea  dooks  are  suDjeci  lo  inuneaiaie  recau. 


REC'D  LD   Nbvie'69-4PM 


FrB251970 


tT\ar  a^' 


X.X^   v> 


iDueendo^SPRir.;- 
^..bject  to  reca 


^t'H.'  '■^ 


f>  71  9  & 


REC'D  LD  APR 


2371  -UAM 


LD21A-60m-6,'69 
(J9096sl0)476-A-32 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


LD  21A-60w-7.'66 
(G4427sl0)476B 


General  Library     . 
University  of  California 
Berkeley 


